I am having trouble deciding how much money to spend on speaker cables. I am building a modest system (around $5000) I have been considering spending up to 600 dollars on used Kimber Kable or Transparents. Does anyone think this is to much for just a Classe/Totem set up? Would I noticed the difference if I only spent 250 on some Audioquests? Thanks

Good quality speaker cables can make a big difference. A good set of cables can make less expensive speakers sound very very good. A lesser quality cable will make very expensive speakers sound bad.Speaker cables are the last interface to your system.I'm a BIG fan of Kimber cables, have been for over 20+ years. I used them in my main system for many years and still use them for my HT system.I can recommend them without question.Respectfully,Joe Nies

To put things in perspetive - $600 is probably way more than the cost of the components (drivers and crossover) in your speakers. There is actually a greater length of wire in your speaker voice coils than your speaker cables anyway.For example, $600 will buy you a world class pair of studio headphones (including the wires to the headphones).

Your going to get alot of responses like....cables don't matter...or here is s cheap alternative...do not spend too much...When In fact it does matter. I'd look at some used or closeout Audioquest DBS cables and if you could get silver interconnect...and maybe speaker cable. Your safest bet for Neutral, detailed but coherent cables. First time I listened to AQ cheetah with Kilimanjaro I could not believe how organic and real the music sounded.

_IMHO_I second the JPS Labs cables. I was content to spend much less on cabling vs components, but, having heard excellent cables such as the JPS, changed my perspective. My cables are considerably more expensive than some of my components, but well worth the cost now in terms of sonic improvement.Once heard..its something you cant deny.

Don't buy into the thinking that you can get by with cables as an afterthought or some here think that because there's more length of wire in the components or speakers parts, that the last few feet of cable is less important..IMO, its THE most important last few feet that make it work or not!

I too agree about the JPS Labs cables. They have worked magic in my system and have taken the sound to a whole new level. The JPS addition was really quite dramatic and I keep hearing more improvement every time a add another piece of their wire.

My suggestion once you have the system in place is to purchase used cables for reputable sellers here and experiment. It's fun and informative if you don't mind selling the cables that don;t work in your system.After using countless cables ranging from inexpensive Canare 4S11 to super expensive Straightwire Blac Silc I keep going back to Audioquest solid conductor wires. After JPS labs, DH labs, Kimber, Analysis Plus, and others I have settled on the AQ Slate biwired and feel no need to look further. Not saying they are the cables for you but speaker cables do make a difference and the only way to know which is best for you is to listen.

I've gone from $1,200 Nordost SPM Reference to $300 Pure Note Cerulean speaker cables to finance a PMC subwoofer purchase. There was very little sacrifice in sound quality in swapping cables but a huge jump in sonics in adding the subwoofer. I would agree with the idea of not spending too much on cables and focusing more on components. $250 would buy you a good decent cable that should do well in your system. The rule of thumb is to spend about 10%-15% the total cost of your system on cables(which include speaker cable and interconnects).

I´d suggest you to try Evidence Audio Cables. They are made originally for electric guitar, bass or musical instrument amps. They sound very controlled and neutral and they are cheaper than the so called "high end" cables. This triggers an interesting question: Why electric instrument amps and cables, with the same complex or not craftmanship, are cheaper than "high end" equipment?

If you like fashionable cables look at VooDoo Cable, they look like they have some nice products. If it was not for the economy slump affecting my income I would switch from my Cardas Neutral Reference. Like a woman, my system has to look as good as the performance.

i recently demoed one of the solid silver core (shotgun config) speaker cables & it was not a good match at all in my system. it was very clear & detailed but lacked harmonics & body. try before you buy if you can...

Relo and others. You're right...high end Audioquest, Nordost, etc. do sound very good, however, in my system, the Speltz anti-cables beat all of the high priced spread handily. In truth, each system is different, and reacts differently to different designs. For my system, every time I replaced any Cardas, Nordost, Audioquest, Kimber, Purist, Wireworld, etc, etc,...it sounded better with anti-cables...go figure.